This love story is quite engaging. It portrays relatively simple, but very touching characters. There is an aura of innocence and naive charm that transpires.
The story itself is sweet. It deals with the themes of typical teenage romance (teasing, awkwardness, tension, comfort, confusion, initial steps into sexuality) and of deeper love (transcendence, bond, implicit connection, sharing, understanding).
The begging is excellent and shows Seo In-woo and In Tae-hee fall in love and figuratively leap together towards the uncertainties of life. They form a bond of heart-felt love, trust and appreciation. The cinematography and the dialogue of their sequences in the rain are magnificent. The right mixture of simple and grand. They're intimacy is also very well expressed and we feel like we almost fell in love anew as a viewer. Quite marvellously done.
After this exquisite prelude, the story then fast-forwards to a few years in the future, when Seo In-woo is now a professor. Little by little, we start to understand what has happened during the time gap and how the professor's inner world is resurfacing. It slowly comes back in a very interesting, non-conventional and unpredictable way.
While the characters remain simple, even if in conflict, the story then intensifies and reach a level of complexity and maturity that is truly exemplary.
The cinematography is again allowed to shine when we leave the classroom and even the interior scenes in Seo In-woo's home (or the earlier motel scene for that matter) are perfectly shot. Calculated, warm and poignant. The landscape, the window shots, the contrasts of light and colours are all top-notch. Picturesque. Incredible craft.
The dialogue is also very perky, often funny, and keeps the story moving along with ease. When it's not funny, it's deep and intense, allowing the actors to shine.
The resolution of the movie is at once unnerving and soothing. Unbelievable, but also fitting and true. We realize that it could not really have been otherwise. We are not sure if we approve or not, but we can somehow nevertheless understand. Life is also as such: we don't always agree with it, but in the end we have to accept it.
